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Dispatches:
News from Atlas Games
Status: Dungeoneer
We've just sold the last of our inventory of Dungeoneer: Vault of the Fiends, so besides passing that fact along to everyone, I thought it would be a good time to look at our plans for this card game line.
In May, we expect to publish a new wilderness Dungeoneer set, with a desert theme. At the same time we plan to rerelease the original Dungeoneer: Tomb of the Lich Lord. (It will have a couple of cosmetic changes and corrections, but no change to price/stock number/ISBN).
November should bring another new wilderness set, this one with an arctic theme perfect for the oncoming winter. At the same time we expect to reprint Dungeoneer: Vault of the Fiends, again with only cosmetic changes and corrections.
The two other Dungeoneer sets -- The Haunted Woods of Malthorin and Den of the Wererats -- are still in stock. We expect they'll continue their steady sales in the meantime, since every Dungeoneer set is a self-contained game, playable on its own or ready to mix with other sets.
As usual, the fact that we've sold out of our main warehouse doesn't mean these games are nowhere to be found. Warehouse 23 still has to sell down their stock, and your local game store may have copies as well.
New on RPGNow: Pax Dei
We have a bit of a conundrum with our older out of print titles, in particular the ones that we inherited from previous publishers of the Ars Magica game line: we never possessed the digital files. So while I'd love to be making these books -- especially the ones that sold well while we had them -- available as PDFs, it's not as simple as grabbing a disk from the archives and going to work.
I recently acquired a scanner with an automatic document feeder, though, and I'm trying the approach of just scanning the old books and making PDFs from the resulting files. It's still a lot more time-intensive, and the files are considerably larger than usual, but I'm interested to see if the results are of interest to enough people to make it worth doing more.
The first book I've done is Pax Dei, which has been out of print for several years and was a solid seller when it was available. You can click on the link in the header above to get to the listing on RPGNow (though as I type this on Saturday afternoon, the file has not yet been OK'd and activated by RPGNow staff). If this goes over well enough, I'll budget some time in the future to doing the same with some books like The Maleficium, perhaps even some Lion Rampant-era titles like Covenants or even the Bats of Mercille!
The Mythic Seas: Out of Print
On Friday I shipped the last two copies of
The Mythic Seas (AG0259) from our warehouse to a distributor.
Warehouse 23 still has some copies, last I checked, and there are copies out "in the channel" (on distributor and retailer shelves), but we have no more copies to restock them when they sell through. So if you're interested in a printed book, don't hesitate if you see a copy!
In the meantime, the book is
now available on RPGNow.com as a pay-download PDF, for those who are content with content sans dead trees.
(We do not plan to reprint the book, nor are there any plans to revise it for 5th edition, at least as far out as we've done our rough planning.)
Play in Portuguese!
Thanks to Special Ops member Eduardo Fukugava, who has kindly let us post his translations of the Gloom and Once Upon a Time rules in Portuguese. You can download these new Gloom rules at www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG1250.php and the Once Upon a Time rules at www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG1001.php . For more info on the Special Ops demo program, see www.atlas-games.com/specialops
Free Monsters are the Best Kind
We're back from vacation! Yes, it was sunny. Yes, it was warm. Yes, it's still below freezing here in Minnesota. :(
Jim Alcala Sales, the man behind the premiere Nyambe fan site, has made my job easy this week by putting up a download for the Khodumodumo, a legendary monster of Africa. This monster is Open Game Content, and includes the spell that is used to summon it. Find it at www.Nyambe.com on the Goodies page.
Vis Sources Open Call Page
In the redesign of the Atlas site, all .html pages got moved to .php pages. Thus, the link I gave out to the Vis Sources Open Call page no longer works. The information is now available from www.atlas-games.com/information_writer.php (linked from the title of this entry).
Sorry about that.
Vacation
John and I will be on vacation in sunny, fun-filled Costa Rica from January 8th through January 16th. Just so you know why your emails aren't getting replies ... the Atlas Games office will be closed.
New Retailer Locator
Atlas Games is pleased to announce that it has joined forces with RPGHost Networks in developing a free, comprehensive, centralized game store locator for the hobby games industry. The new locator has just gone live on the Atlas Games site ... click on the Retailer Locator button at http://www.atlas-games.com to try it out!
We've always found that our retailer locator ends up suffering from neglect on our part because updates are the last thing on our "to do" list. Also, retailers tend not to have time to send updated info, and have a hard time keeping track of the dozens of other locators they're listed on. The result is information that's not particularly accurate, which does our customers very little good!
James Mathe -- the brains behind RPGNow and RPGShop -- has devised a new service that will solve many of these issues:
- The locator does more than just let customers find stores in their area. Entries are searchable by the publishers and product categories that stores carry, they display the retailer's logo, and can even show a picture of the store.
- Retailers enter THEIR OWN info, and do their own updates, so their listing is always correct.
- Stores are listed on many publisher websites in one shot, which means less work owners and managers.
- Retailers receive an email notice when a new publisher joins, with a quick link to add them to their listing.
- Retailers can even create a one-time-use online coupon to entice customers to their store!
Here's an example of what an entry could look like:
http://www.rpgindustry.com/storelocator/images/screen1.jpg
All the store information from Atlas Games' old locator is now available at http://www.RPGIndustry.com. New stores can sign up at http://www.RPGIndustry.com/storelocator/signup.php . It only takes a few minutes!
Coming in April: True Lineages
Here's a new product announcement that went around to our distributors today:
Houses of Hermes: True Lineages
A Player's Sourcebook for Ars Magica 5th Edition
by Erik Dahl, Timothy Ferguson, Matt Ryan and David Woods
"The entire Order stands on the brink of dissolution, and we are the only force that keeps it from toppling. …We are the salvation of the Order!"
- Aldico, Primus of Mercere, addressing his House during the Schism War
The True Lineages are the backbone of the Order of Hermes. In these four Hermetic Houses, each magus was taught by a magus of the House, and that master-apprentice relationship goes back to the founders. This sourcebook details the four True Lineages, including rules for original research, unique forms of magic, and new Virtues and Flaws.
House Bonisagus descends from the two magi who created the Order, and continues to supply knowledge and leadership. They explore the theoretical applications of magic, delving deeper into its arcane secrets. And they advocate peace and cooperation among the Houses, searching for other wizards who might contribute to the community of magi.
House Guernicus upholds and enforces the Code of Hermes as the official judges and investigators of the Order. Its Quaesitores believe they stand against the wheel of fate, slowing it as best they can. By the efforts of its magi, the basic structures of Hermetic society have remained intact for over four hundred years.
House Mercere holds the magi of Mythic Europe together by facilitating communication, encouraging trade, and aiding their sodales. Its heralds, heroes, mercenaries, and merchants reflect the contractictions of their House: it is exotic, but traditional; loyal, but self-centered; proud, but humble.
House Tremere provides the strength of the Order. It controls events and prepares for coming battles, gathering influence and resources to respond to crises as they draw near. Tremere are pragmatic, dutiful, and courageous magi who know that Mythic Europe is a chaotic and dangerous place.
These are the True Lineages. Without them all, the Order of Hermes would surely fall.
Description: 144 pages, hardcover
Stock Number: AG0277
ISBN: 1-58978-074-4
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95
Shipping to Distributors in April 2005
Done In by the Designer
To memorialize the arrival of
Gloom, designer
Keith Baker has kindly put his motivations and machinations down on paper for the rest of us to ponder. Take a look at the
Gloom Designer Notes. Do it now, before it's too late!
In Our Grubby Little Hands
Gloom is ACTUALLY HERE IN OUR VERY WAREHOUSE. The truck just got here about twenty minutes ago. It should take another week or so for it to be in stores in the US. Yay!
Gloom at Last!
Just got a call from my customs broker.
Gloom is through customs and should be delivered to our warehouse before noon today. I'm commencing with printing packing lists. My aim is to get all of our US customers shipped today; if I have time, I'll then start on the non-US.
Damaged Goods
With the huge quantity of
Ars Magica 5th Edition that we shipped out in November and December, it's not surprising that some of them got damaged in transit. So for those of you who missed out on getting
Ars Magica at the introductory price (it's now officially $35, though some stores may still have it at the original price, so don't delay in checking your
local game store), we do have a consolation offer: dented, dinged and otherwise damaged copies for a measly twenty bucks. Click the link in header to see the product page, or
click this link to add it right to a shopping cart. Supplies are limited.
Gloom: Maybe Tomorrow. No, Really.
Rumor has it that
Gloom is actually in the Twin Cities right now.
The ocean shipper was back from vacation, so I was able to call them today and ask about its status. They reported that it arrived in Minneapolis on 12/27. So I called our customs broker; he says in fact it arrived on Thursday, 12/30. Well, at least it's confirmation that it is in the Twin Cities, and it is in the hands of US Customs here. It may be cleared and released this afternoon. There's a very good likelihood that it will be delivered to our warehouse tomorrow, if not late this afternoon. So, at long last, I'm hoping I'll commence with the shipping tomorrow.
We'll see if this actually unfolds like this, or if something new crops up to send our plans further awry.
Playing with Power
Chad Underkoffler has written a succinct overview of my dissertation,
Playing with Power: The Authorial Consequences of Roleplaying Games. You can find the overview in his
livejournal. Chad says, "In some ways, this paper was more satisfying than Gary Alan Fine's Shared Fantasies because Ms. Nephew is a gamer first and an observer and commentator second."
In related news, my chapter on in-game identity and gender issues looks like it's going to be published in an anthology on RPGs, called Gaming Cultures Reader, through the University of Georgia, maybe as soon as this summer!
2004 Atlas Games Bestsellers
It's become something of an annual tradition for me to tabulate our bestsellers each year and share them with an internet. Given that today is January 2nd, it's about time for me to do it for the year just passed.
As usual, there are two lists, one ranking by unit sales and the other ranking by dollar sales.
Boldface indicates a title that was a new release in 2004. Newer products typically dominate the lists, and this year is no exception. Availability also has an impact — for example, Tomb of the Lich Lord sold out several months ago, but until then it tended to sell a little bit better than
Vault of the Fiends. Had
Gloom made it in time, it would have placed on both lists, simply on the strength of the pre-orders I have waiting already for its imminent arrival. Roleplaying definitely took a back seat this year; even with the strong showing of
Ars Magica 5th Edition in November, the lists are dominated by our traditional card games, which is the area that we really focused most of our investment this year.
Sales by Units
1.
Lunch Money: Sticks & Stones
2.
Lunch Money
3.
Beer Money
4.
Once Upon A Time
5.
Once Upon A Time: Dark Tales
6.
Cthulhu 500
7.
Ars Magica 5th Edition
8.
Dungeoneer: Vault of the Fiends
9.
Dungeoneer: The Haunted Woods of Malthorin
10.
Dungeoneer: Den of the Wererats
Sales by Dollars
1.
Lunch Money
2.
Beer Money
3.
Lunch Money: Sticks & Stones
4.
Once Upon A Time
5.
Ars Magica 5th Edition
6.
Cthulhu 500
7.
Dungeoneer: Vault of the Fiends
8.
Dungeoneer: Tomb of the Lich Lord
9.
Once Upon A Time: Dark Tales
10.
Unknown Armies 2nd Edition
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